July 3, 2011 - According to Government Public Information Office statistics filed in 1997, of the 2,709,918 Americans who served in Vietnam, less than 850,000 are estimated to be alive today, with the youngest American Vietnam veteran’s age approximated to be 54 years old. In a commentary that followed the issuance of these statistics, a publication in Texas was quoted as saying, "So, if you’re alive and reading this, how does it feel to be among the last one third of all the U.S. vets who served in Vietnam?"
And these alarming statistics are of concern today, according to recently appointed Vietnam Veterans of American (VVA) Chapter 480 President Bill Chandler.
In a recent interview with Chandler, who is a Tioga County resident serving veterans throughout several counties, many of the surviving Vietnam veterans are showing the affects of a toxic defoliant that was used to clear jungle brush during herbicidal warfare — Agent Orange.
During the Vietnam War, between 1962 and 1971, the United States military sprayed 12,000,000 U.S. gallons (50,000,000 L) of chemical herbicides and defoliants in Vietnam, eastern Laos and parts of Cambodia, as part of Operation Ranch Hand.
According to the Agent Orange Relief & Responsibility Campaign, a grass-roots organization established to provide advocacy to Vietnam-era veterans, millions on both sides of the conflict were affected by the use of these chemicals.
But back in Tioga County, N.Y., Bill Chandler and others are working to assist veterans that are showing signs of the affects of Agent Orange.
"Agent Orange was a vegetation killer that they would spray into the jungles to clear underbrush for visibility," said Chandler who served during the Vietnam era. "It is causing problems like leukemia, cancer, and other physical ailments. It’s killing these guys." {read more}
Tuesday, July 5, 2011
Alive: One Third of the U.S. Vets who Served in Vietnam
Marine: 'We're Starting To Fall To The Wayside'
For over forty years now whenever I hear the loud demands, especially by the elected representatives of the people, for tax cuts my first thought has always been the long underfunded Veterans Administration and related to our wars of choice, second is the ever growing, with no objection, defense budgets year to year!
July 5, 2011 - A very small number of Americans are now serving in the military — less than 1 percent. Some are looking for direction; others are inspired by a sense of patriotism or by a family member who served in an earlier war. In the series Who Serves, NPR looks at the troops who have made a decision few others have — to fight in America's wars.
Just after dawn one day last month, Sgt. Jon Moulder led his patrol of Marines out of Combat Outpost Reilly — basically a collection of tents and sandbags and razor wire — and headed down a dusty road in Afghanistan's Helmand province.
Moulder is a short, compact Marine from Nashville, Tenn. He's on his fourth combat tour, split evenly between Iraq and Afghanistan.
That's meant a lot of time away from home.
"Yeah, it's this whole family thing, deploying and keep leaving," Moulder says. "I have my personal views and opinions on things."
snip
Moulder's had his share of near misses. And for him, and many of the Marines, the question is whether it's all worth it.
Last month in Washington, the debate was about how many troops to bring home.
When asked whether he felt that people back home care about the war, Moulder says, "I think we're starting to fall to the wayside."
"This has been going on for so long," he adds. "Hell, you know, it's America's longest conflict running to date. ... We're kind of like the bastard children of our generation. Starting to become unwanted," Moulder says.
He's feeling forgotten. And that's after having survived four roadside bomb explosions. He's suffered a concussion — he's having trouble sleeping and he's seeing a counselor about post-traumatic stress. {read more}
Listen to the Story
There's even less 'Sacrifice' by the country, especially by the wealthy reaping the booty of the war profits, and has been the many years of these conflicts then was the decades coming out of Korea and Vietnam!
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